WAMC Reapp/Guidance (School List?) (3.72/511)

[pineapplecolada]

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Hi everyone,

Hope you're well with summer coming soon! I'm reapplying this cycle (MD and DO) because I totally flopped last cycle and submitted everything right at the deadline, including secondaries and ghosting some, like an idiot! I've made significant improvements/life changes (my job even said I'm doing better in terms of punctuality and all ahaha), so I'm feeling optimistic now about my capacity to Handle it All with my work. That's where I struggled on deadlines previously, because alongside poopoo writing I just started my job Summer 2025 post June MCAT and it took everything from me. I have a physically demanding job and two mild metabolic health conditions, which I've improved on managing with diet/lifestyle changes. But dang yall take care of yourselves!!!

Hoping to apply MD, DO, some dual degree/MPH Programs
2024 UC Grad
CA ORM - 3.72 GPA, 511 MCAT
1 W in OChem, 2 C+ (in both OChem classes)
Interests in medical advocacy, early childhood interventions, culturally appropriate/developmentally appropriate practices (stems from being 5 of 6 kids, would be first doctor)

LORS
1 Previous PI/Humanities Prof (took 2 classes w)
1 Previous Boss/Supervisor at a Service/Education Job
1 Previous STEM/Humanities Prof (took 2 classes w)
1 Previous STEM Prof (also hosted campus/cultural events with them)
(I did not apply broadly DO since my physician letter writer ghosted me. I'm seeking other shadowing opportunities)

Activities:
- Working full time as early childhood education teacher currently since June 2025
- Volunteer per-diem on-call as a doula since May 2025 (interesting cases/patients/stories here) (~120 hours but excluding nonclinical and on-call hours)
- Nanny for ~ 100 hours while studying for MCAT, Tutor
- Volunteer tutor for elementary school youth in 2020 (~ 30 hours)
- Volunteer at one weekend camp for families with children with medical needs (~30 hours active volunteering)
- Volunteer Role with public interest group: 400 Hours - Voter registration, college resources, environmental, homeless/hunger campaigns
- student government officer (stipend) one year: accessibility and covid restrictions
- 2 years in Save the Children campus chapter (founding committee member to vice president 3 years)
- campus hospital clinical volunteer ~250 hours
- outreach health fair volunteer ~50 hours
- 42 hours shadowing (family medicine, psychiatry)
- 2 years working on campus outreach project expanding educational access for underserved schools in city (started as volunteer but was soon hired)
- 1.5 years working in wet lab studying women's health with stem cells
- volunteer ~30 hours in clinics in Mexico (nonclinical, just packing meds and talking w families and children)
- 1 year qualitative research methods lab studying incarceration
- 50 hours volunteering/interning at refugee children center
- child development internship ~300 hours
- 9 months working on campus in food service role, promoted to supervisor after 6 months
- Campus leadership role: in cultural orgs since first year (online), joined cultural org mag (events coordinator my third year), worked on and ran cultural/religious holiday committees//volunteered 90 hours running religious events via committees, became a senior officer running an outreach/affairs committee hosting events about activism, cultural civersity, working in coalition of marginalized groups on campus
- helped teach bio lab on campus for one quarter

Since first app:
- More clinical hours as a doula
- More stories in teaching role
- Connected w more shadowing opportunities rn
- Trying to get in another weekend or two at the camp for families with children with medical needs. I didn't have any time off accrued before but now I do!
- Been connected with/volunteered at a few events with one org in my city for foster children, but their background clearance backlog is insane so I can only go to events I am "supervised" at, otherwise I had been working on upping my service hours when I can with them after applying, interviewing, training. Unfortunately, working full time and being a doula both kinda eat up all my time!

I have a few of these short term or one time volunteer experiences and I was wondering if anyone has tips on how to combine them

Old school list:
Albany
Drexel
Quinnipac
Geisinger
George Washington
Georgetown
Hackensack
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Penn State
Larner/Vermont
SUNY Downstate
Sidney Kimmel/Thomas Jefferson
U Arizona Tuscon
Western Michigan Homer Stryker

NYITCOM
UNECOM

Updated school list:
Remove:
Georgetown (I think as a reapp they would've wanted me to beef up my community service hours)

Adding:
UCLA
UCR
UC Davis
Nebraska
Midwestern
UWisconsin
Touro
Western
ATSU
PNW
Toledo
Kansas
Wayne
Tulane
CHSUCOM

If I apply Texas...
Texas Tech
Texas A&M

(Should I even bother with UCSD?? Lol)

A few questions I have:
- Do I have to reach out to my LOR writers for updated dates?
- Should I ask a coordinator from a program I've been doing for the past year for a new LOR?
- Is it worth is appliying/adding Texas schools?
- My PREview is scheduled for June 3rd, but I haven't scheduled Casper yet... will this make a significant impact LOL
- I took a cross-UC remote Course at Berkeley while at UCLA, do I need to list Berkeley as a school I attended?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums, and sorry you didn't find us last year. Why did you think your cycle failed? What feedback have you gotten from any admissions officers about your past application? You got no interviews?

 

[pineapplecolada]

Welcome to the forums, and sorry you didn't find us last year. Why did you think your cycle failed? What feedback have you gotten from any admissions officers about your past application? You got no interviews?

Hello, thank you!

I think applying extremely late just set me up for failure. I also did not have a second pair of eyes on my writing, and it was super choppy going out, so it couldn't have been all that convincing. I did not get any interview invites. I think I could have more service hours, and I started my current full-time role about the time I was applying. I could have been more strategic in combining and explaining my activities, since I have somewhat of a smattering of non-clinical volunteer activities because I'm drawn a little thin by work.

I'm hoping this time around, since I'm more set (this time last year I was gearing up for my June MCAT) I can have a more polished primary going out, prewrite secondaries to get them out early (I have a better system for my school list and tracking individual school updates and needs I've set up this time around) but I want to make sure I'm not dropping the rest of my summer salary on reapplying to schools that won't give me another chance. I know reapplicant bias exists, and I also know that I have valuable experiences and am just pining to be back at school/able to commit myself fully to this field (since I haven't been able to get a clinical ft job but have been applying since I started my teaching job). I have one meeting set up with MCW admissions late May (I know it's late/when AMCAS begins to send them out, but that was what was available when I clicked the link to schedule a meeting for app feedback), but otherwise have received no feedback. I didn't reach back out since I assumed it was mainly a timing issue.

 

[Faha]

You have several state public schools on your list that admit few non residents with your stats. I suggest these schools with your stats:
Vermont
Quinnipiac
UMass
Albany
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
Wake Forest
Methodist
NOVA MD
Belmont
TCU
Alice Walton
Ponce (St. Louis)
Creighton
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
Roseman
Brigham Young (when it opens)
California Northstate
California University
Loma Linda (if you fit their mission)
UC Davis
Kaiser
For DO schools I suggest these:
WESTERN
TUCOM-CA
TUNCOM
AZCOM
DMU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
KCU-COM
MU-COM
PCOM
NYITCOM
Touro-NY